Broke through in 2023, made the Norwegian national team in 2024, and won both gold and silver at the World Championships last winter. Now she’s stepping away.

She stood at the starting line for what by all accounts could have become a brilliant career at the highest level. But after just one year on the Norwegian national team, with gold and silver from the Junior World Championships last winter and a handful of other championship medals, the 20-year-old from Røa says goodbye. Hanna Sørbye’s cross-country skiing journey lasted only through her junior years.

It all began when she won silver at the Junior Norwegian Championships in Alta in 2023. That’s when she decided to step up her commitment a bit. The following year, she had a real breakthrough. In the spring of 2024, she had two silvers from the Junior National Championships, second overall in the Norwegian Cup, and sixth place at the Junior World Championships – and secured a spot on the junior national team.

One year later, the young skier is calling it quits, despite the World Championship gold, other medals, and offers to continue on a development team. But Sørbye has no regrets.

Already on borrowed time

“I was a bit tired of it and felt that the commitment took a lot of time. I wanted to do other things in life – like being more involved in student life,” says Sørbye.

When did you decide to retire?

“I never really envisioned doing cross-country skiing for a long time, and my dream was never senior-level skiing. I thought it was fun to try to get as good as possible and go ‘all in’ for a couple of years. But I never saw skiing as what I would spend my life doing. So, I actually feel like I’ve followed my plan exactly,” she says, and explains:

“I had always planned to ski only through upper secondary school. But then I made the junior national team last year, and it was really fun to take that opportunity. So, the past year I’ve just been skiing.”

A bit boring

But that was part of the issue: Sørbye really enjoyed being on the team. She loved the Junior World Championships, the Norwegian Championships, and all the Norwegian Cup weekends. But she got a bit bored between training sessions and felt like her final year as a junior was a strange in-between phase.

“The final year as a junior is a bit special. You’re supposed to train with juniors, but you live more like a senior because you’re no longer in school. It becomes a life between two worlds,” she told Langrenn.com.

“It got a bit boring. If I were to continue, I would have needed something alongside top-level sports,” she says.

Was it hard to make the decision to quit?

“I was very unsure of what to do and was incredibly tempted by the offer to join the regional Elon Oslofjord team. It sounded exciting. But now I want to start life as a student. I considered combining skiing with studying for a long time, but I think it would have been too demanding and challenging. There’s a lot of mandatory attendance in medical school.”

Also Read: Team ELON Oslofjord for season 2025/2026

Sørbye knows many athletes manage to combine full commitment to sports with studies – even medicine – like Nora Sanness, who is now on the elite national team. Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen and Tord Asle Gjerdalen have done it before her.

“I know it’s possible to combine medical studies and full skiing commitment, but that’s not how I want to do it. I don’t want to spend my life doing only training and school,” she says.

After Sørbye made the decision to retire, her days became quite different.

Sudden transition

Langrenn.com spoke to Sørbye over the phone from Mauritius, where she’s currently on vacation. She shared that she hasn’t been training much since she stopped. She doesn’t know how much of a role skiing will play in her daily life moving forward.

Is this the end of the road for cross-country skiing?

“Uhm. We’ll see what I feel like doing, but yes, I think so. I haven’t trained much since I quit, after turning down Elon. It was a sudden transition.”

Do you fear you might regret it?

“Yes. Sometimes I do. There’s a lot I miss, but also quite a bit I don’t. I feel like I’ve gotten to experience a lot of wonderful things through skiing. But I don’t think spending one, two, or three more years as a senior would give me much more than what I’ve already experienced and achieved. I’ve already had so many great experiences,” says Sørbye, and continues:

“A lot of things are the same every year, and I feel like I don’t need another year of similar training and camps.”

Because the truth is, most athletes need several seasons to stabilize at a consistently high level as a senior.

Do you think this way of thinking is more common among girls than boys?

“Maybe a little. But it’s mostly about what you want from skiing. I prioritize education very highly and never saw myself committing to many years as a senior. I just wanted to be as good as I could as a junior. And I feel like I accomplished that.”

Good memories

“I’m left with incredibly good memories and experiences from my years as a junior skier. Getting to compete in two Junior World Championships – especially getting to race in the relay for Norway – were clear highlights. But also, all the Norwegian Cup weekends, training camps, and especially the everyday training sessions with Wang Toppidrett, Røa Langrenn, and TeamKollen gave me great memories,” Sørbye tells Langrenn.com.

“I have so much to be grateful for. So many people have helped me along the way and done so much for me during these years in skiing.”

Sørbye particularly mentions her coaches, support team, and equipment sponsors.

“My main coach for the past four years has been Nikolai Myrvang Olsen, whom I got when I started at Wang Toppidrett Oslo. He has supported me through thick and thin, and without him I would never have gotten to where I am today,” says Sørbye, and adds:

“I also received lots of help from Karstein Johaug, all the way back since the main national junior races. He must be the best technique coach in the world! And this past year I got a lot of valuable input and motivation from junior national team coach Kristian Dahl. And the guys in the Fischer wax cabin.”

“I’ve really been lucky,” Sørbye says.

Still: Now it’s over. The cross-country skiing talent from Røa IL is retiring.

Now Hanna Sørbye is waiting for the letter telling her whether she’ll begin her studies in Oslo or Bergen. In her backpack, she carries useful experience and fond memories from the ski tracks. And in her trophy cabinet, there are two World Championship medals and eight Norwegian Championship medals.

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